Modern portable consumer and industrial electronics, especially client devices such as navigation systems, cellular phones, portable digital assistants, and combination devices, are providing increasing levels of functionality to support modern life including location-based information services. Research and development in the existing technologies can take a myriad of different directions.
As users become more empowered with the growth of mobile location based service devices, new and old paradigms begin to take advantage of this new device space. There are many technological solutions to take advantage of this new device location opportunity. One existing approach is to use location information to provide navigation services such as a global positioning system (GPS) for a car or on a mobile device such as a cell phone, portable navigation device (PND) or a personal digital assistant (PDA).
Recent developments in sensor technology have allowed cost-effective parking sensors to be manufactured in large quantities. Today, this network of sensors aids users by sending real-time parking data from parking spaces to enabled devices such as navigation systems. However, parking space locator services have failed to do more than inform users of some of the available parking spaces. This failure to incorporate more information is of paramount concern to consumers.
Thus, a need still remains for a navigation system with parking space locator mechanism that can provide a user with all necessary information to effectively choose and find a parking space. In view of the diminishing space in cities and the increasing cost of parking, it is increasingly critical that answers be found to these problems. In view of the ever-increasing commercial competitive pressures, along with growing consumer expectations and the diminishing opportunities for meaningful product differentiation in the marketplace, it is critical that answers be found for these problems. Additionally, the need to reduce costs, improve efficiencies and performance, and meet competitive pressures adds an even greater urgency to the critical necessity for finding answers to these problems.
Solutions to these problems have been long sought but prior developments have not taught or suggested any solutions and, thus, solutions to these problems have long eluded those skilled in the art.